Written Answers Tuesday 30 November 2010

Scottish Executive

Climate Challenge Fund

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether changes are planned in the administration or objectives of the Climate Challenge Fund in 2011-12.

Richard Lochhead: It is intended that Keep Scotland Beautiful will provide the administration services to support the Climate Challenge Fund in 2011-12.

  No changes to the objectives of the fund are planned and they remain as below.

  The community must be at the heart of the decision making process of the project;

  The funded activity should lead to significant CO2 reductions, and

  The funded activity should result in a positive legacy for each community.

Climate Challenge Fund

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the balance between large and small grants awarded to date by the Climate Challenge Fund.

Richard Lochhead: The balance between smaller or larger grants has been driven by the applicant communities that come forward and the assessment of their applications by the independent panel. We will continue to evaluate performance of the fund and the efficiency and effectiveness of outcomes against criteria, as well as the scale of projects.

Climate Challenge Fund

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the application process for the Climate Challenge Fund is straightforward for small community groups.

Richard Lochhead: The Climate Challenge Fund has successfully supported applications from a very substantial number of smaller and newly established community groups. However, we plan to review the application process of the extension to the Climate Challenge Fund to ensure it is as simple as possible to access for all communities, while supporting diversity and targeting resources to those projects that comply with the criteria of the fund.

Climate Challenge Fund

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allow national voluntary organisations to access the 2011-12 Climate Challenge Fund and, if so, whether it considers that the resources allocated to the fund in the 2011-12 draft budget are adequate to meet any subsequent increased demand.

Richard Lochhead: There are no plans to allow national voluntary organisations access to the 2011-12 Climate Challenge Fund.

Culture

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following publication of Scotland’s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12 , how much capital funding it will provide for the V&A at Dundee project.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government’s Draft Budget for 2011-12 includes sufficient funding for the project feasibility and design stages to proceed. Overall the Scottish Government will make a significant capital contribution to the project, providing a sound funding basis to which the partnership can add from other sources to enable the project to proceed. Details are being discussed with the partnership.

Dentistry

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for an emergency dental appointment in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have attended accident and emergency units looking for emergency dental treatment in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information is not available centrally.

Domestic Abuse

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 18,828 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2008-09 referred to the procurators fiscal resulted in a prosecution.

Fergus Ewing: There were 7,976 prosecutions with a domestic aggravator recorded in 2008-09.

  It should be noted that statistics dealing with court proceedings and recorded crime are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also, a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.

Domestic Abuse

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-harassment orders were granted as part of the disposal in relation to the 18,828 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2008-09 referred to the procurators fiscal.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is not held centrally.

Domestic Abuse

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sentences of (a) up to six months and (b) six months or over were issued in relation to the 18,828 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2008-09 referred to the procurators fiscal.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is given in the following table.

  Persons Convicted for an Offence with a Domestic Aggravator Recorded1, Receiving a Custodial Sentence in 2008-09

  

Sentence 
2008-09


6 months or less
668


Over 6 months
121


All
789



  Note: 1. Where main offence.

  It should be noted that statistics dealing with court proceedings and recorded crime are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.

Domestic Abuse

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 21,660 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2009-10 referred to the procurators fiscal resulted in a prosecution.

Fergus Ewing: Criminal proceedings data for 2009-10, covering the period April 2009 to March 2010, is planned for release on 25 January 2011.

Domestic Abuse

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-harassment orders were granted as part of the disposal in relation to the 21,660 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2009-10 referred to the procurators fiscal.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is not held centrally.

Domestic Abuse

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sentences of (a) up to six months and (b) six months or over were issued in relation to the 21,660 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2009-10 referred to the procurators fiscal.

Fergus Ewing: Criminal proceedings data for 2009-10, covering the period April 2009 to March 2010, is planned for release on 25 January 2011.

Energy Efficiency

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have received loft and cavity wall insulation under the Energy Assistance Programme and its predecessors in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Alex Neil: The following table shows the number of households receiving loft and/or cavity insulation under the Energy Assistance Package, the central heating programme, and Warm Deal, for each year since 2007. Some houses received either loft insulation or cavity wall insulation, others received both measures.

  Measures have been delivered to (a) private sector households, (b) local authorities, and (c) housing associations. The allocation of measures is demand-led.

  The local authority breakdown is not available for measures delivered through housing associations, which may work in more than one local authority.

  Officials are continuing to collate information from local authorities and housing associations on the measures delivered and are not yet able to provide finalised totals for 2009-10. I will arrange for this information to be lodged in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52137).

  Households Receiving Loft and/or Cavity Insulation

  

 
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


(a) Private sector


Aberdeen City
233
194
203


Aberdeenshire
359
231
456


Angus
317
379
274


Argyll and Bute
147
180
223


Clackmannanshire
93
110
80


Dumfries and Galloway
446
351
345


Dundee City
293
241
254


East Ayrshire
283
303
210


East Dunbartonshire
334
416
237


East Lothian
239
249
159


East Renfrewshire
226
248
220


Edinburgh, City of
746
1,007
524


Eilean Siar
111
55
222


Falkirk
352
363
265


Fife
935
1,242
705


Glasgow City
835
917
655


Highland
319
279
787


Inverclyde
175
155
123


Midlothian
158
209
159


Moray
180
150
244


North Ayrshire
375
397
275


North Lanarkshire
884
1,060
548


Orkney Islands
48
42
53


Perth and Kinross
270
328
323


Renfrewshire
688
386
273


Scottish Borders
246
197
233


Shetland Islands
27
23
12


South Ayrshire
348
411
269


South Lanarkshire
1,204
943
616


Stirling
197
212
237


West Dunbartonshire
194
193
129


West Lothian
400
553
204


Private sector, Scotland
11,662
12,024
9,517


(b) Local authorities *


Aberdeen City
173
0
not yet available


Aberdeenshire
2,288
215


Angus
0
520


Argyll and Bute
0
0


Clackmannanshire
136
88


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0


Dundee City
103
100


East Ayrshire
306
164


East Dunbartonshire
222
126


East Lothian
757
510


East Renfrewshire
0
0


Edinburgh, City of
1,572
1,947


Eilean Siar
0
0


Falkirk
980
530


Fife
110
190


Glasgow City
0
0


Highland
70
255


Inverclyde
100
0


Midlothian
1,325
635


Moray
0
0


North Ayrshire
1,462
1,115


North Lanarkshire
252
251


Orkney Islands
37
55


Perth and Kinross
1,010
275


Renfrewshire
0
0


Scottish Borders
0
0


Shetland Islands
91
11


South Ayrshire
885
469


South Lanarkshire
3,050
1,285


Stirling
372
655


West Dunbartonshire
1,326
1,169


West Lothian
110
287


Local authorities, Scotland
16,737
10,852


(c) Housing associations *


Housing associations, Scotland
4,585
1,640
not yet available


Total *, Scotland
32,984
24,516



  Note: *The total number of households may include some that only received draught proofing, pipe or tank insulation; it is not possible from the figures available for local authorities and housing associations to distinguish those households that only received loft and / or cavity wall insulation.

Energy Efficiency

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on providing households with loft and cavity wall insulation under the Energy Assistance Programme and its predecessors in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Alex Neil: The following table shows the spend on loft and/or cavity insulation under the Energy Assistance Package, the central heating programme, and Warm Deal, for each year since 2007. Some houses received either loft insulation or cavity wall insulation, others received both measures.

  Measures have been delivered to (a) private sector households, (b) local authorities, and (c) housing associations. The allocation of measures is demand-led.

  The local authority breakdown is not available for measures delivered through housing associations, which may work in more than one local authority.

  Reconciliation of the spend for 2009-10 is ongoing. I will arrange for the finalised figures to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numer 52138).

  Spend on Loft and/or Cavity Insulation

  

 
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


(a) Private sector++


Aberdeen City
£74,054
£57,119
not yet available


Aberdeenshire
£127,911
£77,049


Angus
£121,969
£116,208


Argyll and Bute
£58,281
£65,532


Clackmannanshire
£33,076
£36,786


Dumfries and Galloway
£165,738
£131,801


Dundee City
£99,406
£73,744


East Ayrshire
£104,346
£109,401


East Dunbartonshire
£137,910
£155,093


East Lothian
£86,811
£81,373


East Renfrewshire
£90,796
£95,690


Edinburgh, City of
£259,331
£335,656


Eilean Siar
£54,038
£28,809


Falkirk
£120,774
£124,288


Fife
£337,104
£383,696


Glasgow City
£288,962
£295,396


Highland
£120,546
£99,805


Inverclyde
£60,266
£54,179


Midlothian
£58,121
£70,904


Moray
£66,101
£54,664


North Ayrshire
£137,721
£131,946


North Lanarkshire
£307,640
£337,459


Orkney Islands
£25,498
£20,605


Perth and Kinross
£100,586
£105,326


Renfrewshire
£222,749
£136,996


Scottish Borders
£92,620
£64,197


Shetland Islands
£12,394
£7,485


South Ayrshire
£133,001
£151,087


South Lanarkshire
£418,461
£306,470


Stirling
£69,925
£77,534


West Dunbartonshire
£70,623
£64,142


West Lothian
£125,056
£172,706


Private sector,+ Scotland
£4,181,815
£4,023,143


(b) Local authorities*+


Aberdeen City
£21,965
0
not yet available


Aberdeenshire
£113,600
£68,800


Angus
0
£32,000


Argyll and Bute
0
0


Clackmannanshire
£43,520
£19,250


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0


Dundee City
£32,000
£32,000


East Ayrshire
£59,200
£44,800


East Dunbartonshire
£70,400
£40,320


East Lothian
£192,000
£107,153


East Renfrewshire
0
0


Edinburgh, City of
£284,800
£225,600


Eilean Siar
0
0


Falkirk
£313,760
£169,600


Fife
£35,200
£60,800


Glasgow City
0
0


Highland
£22,400
£31,603


Inverclyde
£78,544
0


Midlothian
£424,000
£203,200


Moray
0
0


North Ayrshire
£198,420
£94,400


North Lanarkshire
£80,000
£72,000


Orkney Islands
£10,000
£16,000


Perth and Kinross
£172,800
£51,101


Renfrewshire
0
0


Scottish Borders
0
0


Shetland Islands
£29,120
£3,520


South Ayrshire
£204,800
£54,400


South Lanarkshire
£780,460
£340,400


Stirling
£56,000
£120,751


West Dunbartonshire
£275,200
£140,100


West Lothian
£32,000
£72,000


Local authorities, Scotland
£3,530,189
£1,999,798


(c) Housing associations*


Housing associations, Scotland
£1,019,392
£420,882
not yet available


Total, Scotland*
£8,731,396
£6,443,823



  Notes:

  *The total spend may include some households that only received draught proofing, pipe or tank insulation; it is not possible from the figures available for local authorities and housing associations to distinguish those households that only received loft and / or cavity wall insulation.

  +Spend for 2009-10 is estimated and is subject to final reconciliation.

Health

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost of cancelled operations has been to the NHS in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients with chronic pain were sent for treatment to pain management centres outside of Scotland in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) treatment centre

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not available centrally.

NHS Finance

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on developing the NHS Inform website, including all IT costs.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS inform is more than a website. It is an information service for the public, patients and carers that joins up online, telephone and face-to-face advice. The NHS inform set up costs totalled £560,000 over the period from April 2009 to June 2010, of which £129,110 was IT costs.

NHS Finance

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be spent per annum to maintain the NHS Inform website, including all IT costs.

Nicola Sturgeon: The total projected cost per annum to maintain the website channel of delivery of NHS inform, including all IT costs, is £71,900.

NHS Finance

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the original budget was for the (a) development and (b) maintenance of NHS Inform.

Nicola Sturgeon: Up to £500,000 per annum has been identified for the development and ongoing delivery of the NHS inform service, inclusive of the three channels of delivery. This takes into account the evolving nature of the national service providing quality assured health information for the population of Scotland.

NHS Finance

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget for NHS Inform was in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10 and is in 2010-11.

Nicola Sturgeon: In 2008-09, a range of patient information work was carried out by NHS 24 on behalf of NHSScotland that pre-dated the decision to proceed with and therefore was not attributable to NHS inform. The expenditure in 2008-09 for this work was £298,000. The budget agreed for 2009-10 and 2010-11 was £500,000 per annum.

Young People

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people were supported in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10 by the (i) Skills Development Scotland Lifeskills, (ii) Skills Development Scotland Get Ready for Work and (c) Activity Agreement provision, also broken down by age.

Keith Brown: The Get Ready for Work programme is run by Skills Development Scotland. As such, it is responsible for collecting statistical data on the young people who participate. Annual data is published on the participation in the National Training Programmes at:

  http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/knowledge/reports/national-training-programmes-statistics.aspx.

  We do, however, receive centrally, data on the total number of young people who have completed Get Ready for Work provision including lifeskills. This is shown below along with the number of young people who have signed up to an Activity Agreement.

  

 
2008-09
2009-10


Get Ready for Work including Lifeskills
9,622
9,226


Activity Agreement
N/A1
8552



  Notes:

  1. The Activity Agreement pilots started in June 2009.

  2. Total number of young people sign up to an Activity Agreement up to the end of June 2010.

Young People

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people are scheduled to be supported in 2010-11 by the (a) Skills Development Scotland Lifeskills, (b) Skills Development Scotland Get Ready for Work and (c) Activity Agreement provision, also broken down by age.

Keith Brown: In 2010-11 Skills Development Scotland will deliver 14,500 places to support young people and adults who want to join the labour market. This includes the Get Ready for Work programme.

  In the 10 pilot areas for Activity Agreement no formal targets for the number of young people to be supported have been set.